Important note: Please advise your doctor before following any plan. Don’t follow the advice below if you are under 18.
People always ask: “How much weight can you lose in a week?” Well… to answer your question I have good news, awesome news, and bad news.
First onto the good news: YOU CAN LOSE A TON OF WEIGHT IN ONE WEEK
That’s right, you don’t have to be bound to the conventional wisdom of only losing 1 or 2 pounds a week. Extreme weight loss diets can definitely work, but only for a short period of time.
In fact, you can lose up to 15 pounds in one week if you do it correctly.
Now onto the awesome news: ALL THAT WEIGHT YOU LOSE WILL BE WATER AND FAT, NOT MUSCLE
Yup, you read that correctly, if you follow the methods at the end of this post, all the weight you lose during the week will be pure body fat. The conventional statement that losing more than 2 pounds per week leads to muscle, organ, and hair loss is absolute unicorn shit.
How do I know this? Because some awesome scientists from the American College Of Nutrition back in 1999, conducted a study, which tested 2 groups of people for 12 weeks.
One group only did traditional cardio, while the other group only did weight training. Both groups ate 800 calories a day. At the end of the study, both groups lost large amounts of weight, but the one that only did cardio lost large amounts of lean muscle mass, and the one that only did weight training didn’t lose any muscle mass at all.
So there you go, some hard hitting scientific facts that prove that you will not lose muscle during extreme dieting as long as you lift weights.
Note: And if you don’t have a gym membership or if you don’t have access to any weights, then doing a well-designed bodyweight program like Bodyweight Burn is your next best option.
And lastly, the bad news: YOU HAVE TO EAT VERY VERY LOW CALORIES
So yeah…. you have to eat a ridiculously low amount of calories to lose a lot of weight in a week. I’m talking along the lines of 800 calories a day.
The amount that would make any nutritionist hang themselves.
And now, onto the plan, but first, a picture of steaks:

The 2-step plan to lose the maximum amount of weight in a week
Please note that the following plan can be used by both men and woman.
And don’t do this plan if you’re under 18, you’re way too young to be eating such low calories.
I guarantee that if you follow the plan below, you will lose 10-15 pounds(water and fat) in one week:
1) For one week only, eat 800 calories per day.
2) Workout 2-3 times per week with weights. Make sure the weights are heavy and be sure to hit all body parts.
That’s all.
Some notes/tips about the above 2 steps:
- 800 calories is very little food, for any man, woman, or baby walrus. Because of this, I suggest that you only eat 1 meal per day a la Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat. If you eat one 800 calorie meal per day, then you’ll at least feel somewhat satisfied, but if you split that up into 3 or even worse, 6 meals per day, then you’re not going to fare so well on this one week venture. Yes, this means that you will be fasting 24 hours every day for a whole week. Just remember, you will be burning fat, not muscle.
- Whenever possible, eat higher protein and eat foods with high water content such as fruits and soups. Also, drink lots of coffee and green tea, since they both tend to blunt hunger quite well.
- Stick with heavy compound exercises when in the gym. That means no curling and crunching, and if you even step foot on a treadmill, my dumbass radar will go off and I may have to kill you.
- If you can’t lift weights, then your next best option is to do some sort of bodyweight training. You know…exercises like squats, push-ups, lunges, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc..
- This is a mental game more than anything else. When you’re eating very few calories to lose weight faster, your mind starts playing tricks on you. Your stomach is gonna be grumbling more often. And there are gonna be times where you want nothing more than to self-sabotage yourself. Which is why the next point is so important.
- Above all, keep yourself distracted and out of the kitchen. If you’re constantly prancing around the kitchen and thinking about food, you’re going to fail. So keep yourself busy. Read a book, play some video games, take a nap, work on your tan, or shave your pubes. I don’t care. Just do something that doesn’t involve food.
- [EDIT 10/6/2014] I should also add that your protein intake needs to be HIGH. Like really high. In fact, the majority of your calories should probably come from protein, fruits, and veggies if you want this diet to be effective. The protein will help keep you full but more importantly also help maintain muscle.
Remember, this is only for one week
I just wanted remind you all, that this sort of extreme weight loss plan is only a temporary plan.
The results don’t have to be temporary, but the plan is. Please do not try and do this weight loss plan for more than a week.
Doing so is really going to mess with your head and you’ll most likely binge back to your original weight.
After one week, transition to a more moderate weight loss plan for the long haul.
I hope you guys now know how much weight you could lose in a week if went balls to the walls.
Want even better results? Take it to the next level with Fat Loss Boost
Many people have been asking me, “Can I do this for more than 7 days?”
Uh…
Yes and no.
Technically, you could eat 800 cals per day for a sustained period of time.
But sooner or later it’s gonna backfire on you.
If you want a more sustainable rapid fat loss plan…
Then I highly recommend checking out Fat Loss Boost.
This is a more long-term approach than the strategy I outlined in this blog post.
It’s a strategic rapid fat loss diet that works in 14 day cycles.
So you go hard on the diet for 14 days, lose a crap ton of weight, take a break, and repeat.
And the results from Fat Loss Boost are even better:
““I have been able to lose 10 pounds using this program. Starting weight 186. Weight this morning was 176.”
“I lost 12 lbs for my first attempt. Started at 201.7 and ended at 189.9. I am amazed!!! Thanks to everywhere for all the support and great hacks.”
“Ok people I’m done 😀. I hit 171.8 today, my goal was to break 172 on this round which was what I weighed almost ten years ago (lowest as an adult). That’s 30.2 lbs in just under 3 months.“
Pretty crazy, right?
Definitely give it a look if you want a realistic, yet challenging plan that burns fat faster than anything. you ever tried before.
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Questions? Like steak? Let me know down below.
I respond to (almost) every comment, which is pretty crazy considering there’s been over 3000 comments. Sigh…I need a hobby.
You are just too hot. Fact. BW?? Body weight? Sorry ☺️
bw = bodyweight
I just had Spinal Cord Stimulator Surgery and I cant exercise or lift weight for 4 months. How can loose weight with these limits?? It a bitch I know… Thanks for your help Peace Out Keith…
you can still lose weight via diet. You just can’t build or maintain muscle.
Does this truly work ? I’m kinda the person that has to see it to believe it .
Hiya! So in order to maintain the weight you achieve at the end of the 7 day period we should consume the amount of calories through the multiplying our bw by 11, but, how about exercise? Continue the weight lifting? If I switch to cardio would that negatively impact the progress?
i recommend people to ALWAYS be doing some form of resistance training even if they are not trying to lose weight. Cardio isn’t a substitute for lifting. Two different things for different goals. If you really want to lose weight, focus on your diet .
I have under active thyroid can this help me to lose weight?
I wouldnt do this if u have any thyroid conditions.
EXCELLENT EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO FIND AND READ. YOU COULD NOT HAVE DONE BETTER PROVIDING ANSWERS TO MY SEARCH. BLESS YOU FOR SAVING MY DAY AND ME.
thanks
I don’t eat meat, can I still do this?
sure
Hello
Can I play tennis and row? I do these sports for fun and for many years so by now they don’t count as workouts for me. Tennis is not really aerobic, no? I play single 3x a week for 2 hours so ~6 hours a week. I row indoors at home about 4 days per week. Will your dumbass radar go off if I row?
I can’t lose fat even if I eat perfectly. So I want to try your plan
Thanks
it’s not about whether it’s aerobic or not. It’s just because it’s very hard to eat very few calories and keep activity levels high. If u want a “faster” approach to lose weight, multiply your bw in lbs by 9-10 and that is your daily calorie intake.
Will this work if you don’t do it in a row. For example every week you do one day
no i would not recommend that.
I just had a surgery on my mouth and hip and I was wondering how many pounds I’ll lose if i only drink water and no food for a week?
uh…dont do that
You will go into ketosis and your body will go into repair mode. U will lose around 5-10 lbs. doing that is healthy but be careful if your not used to doing it. I have done it for 30 days and allowed my body to heal itself of skin conditions because I starved of sugar to feed bad bacteria. I intermittent fast. I don’t eat for 16 hours and then have an 8 hour window of eating healthy foods. No sugar. Low carbs. High fat (coconut oil and avacados). 16 hours of fasting, 8 of it is sleeping. Look up Dr. John Bergman, mike vanderscheldon, Eric berg and dr mercola. It can change ur life. They did mine.
No don’t do it.
I’m 18, 50kg and 5’4′ do you think its worth maybe doing like 600 cals for the same effect?
no
About the exercise,can i just do push up,crunch and plank??
I couldn’t stop laughing at how funny this article has been written. I mean.. Damn it’s good. I’m new to the whole weight loss thing because I finally managed to join a gym. I’m not worried about my cravings since I intake 1000 calories per day. I do cardio and weight lifting too. I somehow manage but I’m not hungry or tired at the end of the day except few cramps. And if I’m hungry at midnight… I just go for the carrot slices with a little pepper and chilli sauce. But I’m afraid I don’t know how to plan a proper meal.
My goal is to reach 55 kilos from 62 in 3 months. Along with toning my body..My plan is to lose .75 kilos per week.
What kind of exercises and diet should I include? Is running on the treadmill waste of time? Anyhow, thanks mate!
I recommend some type of challenging/heavy resistance training. I DO NOT recommend running as your main for of exercise especially on a very low cal diet.
Eat plenty of lean protein (chicken breast) fruits and veggies and you’ll be fine.
Does walking burn muscle mass, fat, or both? Does walking even do anything?
it burns fat but very very slowly since walking isnt a very intense activity.
Running on treadmill is fine for aerobic. For weightloss, neat results come from intermittent fasting, exercise at the end of your fast. I do 16:8. Exercise and then eat after working out. Three days a week I do what’s called HIIT. HIGH INTERMITTENT INTERVAL TRAINING. U work yourself up to 8-12 reps. U max your body’s energy to the max for 30 seconds and then rest for 90 seconds. Whether sprinting or otherwise. Just get your heart rate up hard for 30 seconds. It’s like a car. Get better highway than city miles. I’d be happy to answer any more questions I have. Thing is, our ancestors weren’t running around eating mccdimalds and donuts and running for an hour solid a day. They stayed lean feasting and famin in nature’s food. Look these people up on YouTube. It could change ur life. Dr John Bergman. Michael vanderscheldon Eric berg and dr mercola.
weight loss comes from being in a calorie deficit.
There’s no singular way to do things. Intermittent fasting works but isn’t necesary. HIIT works but isn’t necessary.
It all depends on the person. Context is everything.
If it is one meal a day you recommend as the best option…which one?
Also, would something like this not put your body into a feast or famine kinda thing thus slowing down your metabolism?
which one? No it wont slow down your metabolism.
I think Shawna means; “Which one of Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner as being the only meal of the day?”
Also would like to know myself and assuming the answer is lunch.
Cheers!
no doesn’t matter. Most ppl do dinner